Into the Woods
by Evil Cheshire Cat
Summary: Ryoma knew what life was about. It was always what he could see and touch, but one day, he found out there's much more. ShinjiRyoma for now, as the series progresses possible FujiRyoma or TezukaFujiRyoma
1. Chapter 1

"Into the Woods"

Insert an oh-so-witty disclaimer saying lack of ownership here.

Warnings: Possible OOC-ness, character deaths, does using characters you hardly EVER see in fiction need a warning?

We have ShinjiRyoma in this chapter but by the end of it it's probably either going to be FujiRyoma or TezukaFujiRyoma.

This was hell. Ryoma knew it; he had actually died and this was hell where he was to suffer for all eternity. How else could he explain the fact that he was in the same class as Aoi Kentaro, his roommate and the loudest student of the high school?

It didn't help matters that they had known each other since junior high and Aoi STILL didn't understand when Ryoma said "be quiet", usually he meant "be quiet". "Oi, Echizen," Aoi shook his shoulder, "are you listening to me?"

"No," came the reply as Ryoma made a point of looking even harder out the window. He really wished there was something actually interesting out there. It was cold, far too cold to even start snowing, and the wind was dragging dead leaves out of the trees. Dark clouds had blotted out the sun, leaving everything in a gloomy looking haze. "What?" he demanded when Aoi started whining.

Aoi huffed a little, "I was saying that you and I should hang out after class."

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, "Don't we see enough of each other during the day? And night?"

His reasoning somehow managed to cause Aoi to hug him. "Yeah but it'll be fun! We can do…stuff!"

"No thanks," he struggled valiantly to get out of the death grip. "Besides, you probably just want to see if that girl is at that store."

Aoi smiled brightly at that, "Ah! You figured me out!"

The bell over head rang sharply, releasing them from the class. The two gathered their things, going out with the flow of the other students. "I don't see why you want ME to come with," Ryoma tried to speak over the other voices.

"Because I want my best friend to approve of my girlfriend!" Aoi, it seemed, had no trouble being heard over the other loud students. He grabbed Ryoma's arm, dragging him to the side where the flow of people wasn't as bad.

Cold November air rushed to greet them once they were outside. It was refreshing after sitting for so long in overheated rooms. Ryoma closed his eyes, breathing it all in as he became one of the people that held up others. He reopened his eyes and turned to Aoi, watching him shiver. Aoi stretched, "So did you ever finish that paper for Anjo-sensei?"

Ryoma shrugged lightly. "I have at least five hours to complete it."

"You haven't even started it, have you?"

"Have YOU?" he countered.

Aoi blinked. "…This isn't about me, Echizen!" He hopped down the steps, looking back up at Ryoma.

His friend trailed after, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'll have it finished in no time. I'm lucky, right?" he smirked.

"Your luck is going to run out at some point."

Suddenly a hand landed on each other their shoulders, making them jump in surprise. "Ryoma-kun," Shinji greeted contentedly, though in all honestly not much had changed in the inflection of his normal voice. "Aoi," he said to the other.

It was Aoi's turn to smirk. "And there it goes, huh?"

Ryoma scowled angrily at his friend. "You're done all ready, Shinji?"

"What kind of question is that?" Shinji muttered. "Of course I finished. I don't have any obligations today either. Kamio and Tachibana are stuck with that. I'm stuck with it next week I think. Then I won't be getting out this early. Hn, it's not like we don't have other people to do that. We have so many students, why couldn't we just all do one thing continually and that be it…"

The two younger students stared at him blankly. Ryoma leaned over to Aoi, "Are you understanding any of this?"

Aoi stared at Shinji, wondering how exactly he could talk so much without breathing. "I'm phasing in and out," he admitted honestly.

"But I didn't come to talk to you about school," Shinji was going on, "Since we're both out at the same time, we should go into the town. I'll buy you dinner. It would be nice for us to do something together because we haven't been spending as much time together. You're not avoiding me are you? I wouldn't like th-"

"I'll go," Ryoma said quickly.

"What?" Aoi's jaw dropped, "You didn't agree to hang out with me!"

Ryoma shrugged, turning away. "You also couldn't talk me into a coma," he pointed out, fully aware the Shinji could hear him.

Shinji took Ryoma's hand, loosely holding it. He must have been feeling possessive; as a couple they rarely showed any public displays of affection, less than any other couple. Aoi threw his hands in the air, looking somewhat put out and annoyed.

There was a tug to his hand, alerting him that Shinji had started walking. He trailed after and lifted his hand in a half hearted wave to Aoi. "You shouldn't bother Aoi so much. He's your only friend. If I were as annoying as you, I'm sure Kamio would have left me," Shinji looked at Ryoma through a curtain of purple-ish hair.

Ryoma didn't comment. Really anything he would have said would have set Shinji on a tangent that would lose meaning mid-ramble.

Shinji, amazingly, fell silent, apparently content to just walk with Ryoma. It was a relatively short distance from the school property to the busy streets that were filled with neon lights and constant noise, only about four blocks. It was one of the few good things about the school in many students', and some teachers', opinions.

Ryoma moved closer to Shinji as a gust of wind pressed down on them. He slipped an arm around Shinji's waist and, as he predicted, the action was copied by his boyfriend. There were many things wrong with their relationship, so many that there was a pool going around about how long they'd last, but there were some things that made Ryoma fairly sure that he'd stay with Shinji for awhile. Free food and a walking heater on demand were at the top of the list.

They passed by three girls that were from a public school in another direction, who were giggling and talking quickly. They paused when Shinji and Ryoma passed before bursting into giggles again. They must have been new to the area. Most of the store owners and other school students weren't as phased with couples like them. It had been a fairly common occurrence with an all boys' school just down the road.

"Tch, let's find a place soon. It's too cold and too noisy out." Shinji's fingers tightened a little against Ryoma's hip then relaxed. "Where should we go? I don't want anything spicy. How can anyone like spicy food? It damages your tastes buds after too long and then you can't eat. Well you can but you wouldn't be able to taste it and then what would be the point?"

"Let's go there," Ryoma pointed to a little café. It was dimly lit compared to the other places, no neon lights present. One of the employees was stacking the tables as chairs sat off to the side waiting to be put into storage during the winter weather. He drew away from Shinji, crossing the street without bothering to look for cars. He ignored the nod of greeting he got from the employee.

Inside it was much like the outside; quiet and dimly lit. Warm too, Ryoma decided and unzipped his jacket. He went over to a table next to a window. He dropped his bag down near the chair and sat just as Shinji caught up. "You keep trying to ditch me," he accused. Ryoma just blinked innocently up at him but didn't deny anything. With a grumpy noise, Shinji set down his own bag and sat, glancing out the window. "This was a good choice, though. At least for now. It's quiet but the food might be terrible…"

Ryoma tuned him out, covering his yawn. He frowned in annoyance when he kicked his bag over during a stretch to work out the kinks in his back. Ducking down, his annoyance grew as he pulled the bag close and realized one of the zippers had gone down, allowing the two tennis balls he always carried around to roll out.

He grabbed the closest one, shoving it back in. He slid out of his chair and reached for the other one that had rolled further away. His attention was drawn to the table across from them. He stared at the three pairs of legs that would shift or cross at the ankle. His eyes narrowed when he saw something; another person crouching under there. He could see the pale face that was almost completely hidden by shadows and long, long black hair. Dark eyes met his, making him freeze completely.

He watched a thin hand sneak out of the darkness. It flexed and he swore he could hear bones that hadn't been used for a long time snap and creak. There was a yelp, which unfroze Ryoma and actually caused him to jump. He cracked his head against the table just as a woman said, "Ryohei!" in a scolding tone. Ryoma dropped forward, kneeling so he could rest his elbows on the ground and his hands on his throbbing head.

"Ryoma-kun," he felt the air shift as Shinji leaned over. "What are you doing? Did you see somebody you used to date and you didn't want to see them? You gave yourself away with the table thing. You aren't going to spend dinner under there." As Shinji continued to mumble, Ryoma finally pulled a hand away to grab the ball he originally was reaching for and shoved it into his bag with jerky, annoyed movements. He looked across from him, only to find the person gone. He pulled himself out from under the table, making sure to note where the edge was. Shinji straightened as well.

A waitress finally came over to them, all smiles and pleasantries. Ryoma tuned her out like he did Shinji as she attempted to understand what Shinji was saying. His attention went over to their neighbors. Two men and a young woman were there; they were acting as if they were celebrating something but talked in hush whispers. Ryoma looked for some possible sign of them having a fourth as well.

He jerked forward when the back of his head was hit. Right on the spot where he'd bumped it too. One eye closed as he winced and he turned to glare at Shinji. "What?" he demanded.

The smile twitched before trying to become bright. "What can I get for you?" she asked, her eyes practically begging for an easier time than Ryoma's boyfriend had given her.

For a brief moment, Ryoma contemplated messing with her. He finally decided against it though, waving a hand, "Just get me what he's having."

Her whole posture slumped in relief, "Of course."

He watched her for a minute before turning back to the celebrating group. Curiously, he ducked down. The woman, he was fairly certain of that, wasn't there; there was no sign of it being there either. "What's with you today?" Shinji questioned, having leaned downwards too. Ryoma met his eyes, noting the twitchy frown he was sporting. "I'm really going to start thinking you're cheating on me if you keep this up. There's no other logical reason to be hiding like this."

"I'm not hiding," Ryoma huffed. He wondered if he should tell Shinji about what he'd seen. "I was just getting a magazine from my bag." To prove his point, he dug around until his hands closed around a crumpled, outdated magazine.

Both straightened back up. Shinji started muttering about inattentive boyfriends as Ryoma made a slight show of reading. Unfortunately it was a little over a year old and he'd pretty much had all the articles memorized now. He forced his eyes to trail over the words but they wanted to go to the group near them. Was it just him or was one of the men looking uncomfortable?

With a sudden noise, he stood and jerked his chair so he was fully facing the window and he was seated next to Shinji. "One of these days, you'll teach me to do the Spot, won't you?" That was a totally needless question. If he wanted to do the Spot, he'd learn on his own.

Shinji stared at him, silent. Perhaps he saw the lie…"Geez, why should I teach you? It's my move; you have your own. Why should I give you more of an edge in our games than you all ready have?" Ryoma smiled when he got the expected results and leaned forward, intent on listening to every word.

Listening to Shinji was a…different experience. Ryoma found himself both fascinated and a little horrified that someone could talk so much without visibly breathing or having the same connecting thoughts. Even as the food came, he focused mainly on Shinji.

They had gotten half way through their meal when Shinji looked at Ryoma, eyes narrowed. "What's with you? You never listen to me. It's always 'be quiet, Shinji'. Which isn't very nice at all. Like you don't value my opinion or-"

"What? Don't you want me to listen?" Ryoma looked into his soda. The ice cracked loudly and hit against the glass when he stirred his straw. He gave the barest of shudders when the sound reminded him of the sound the hand had made.

"I never said that. You shouldn't put words into my mouth." The older teen shifted in his seat, glaring at Ryoma. "Jeez, you can be so annoying."

There was a light smirk. "And yet you still date me."

A pause followed that. "You do good things too. But your attitude can be so uncute. You should see about fixing it and then there wouldn't be a problem…" Ryoma let him rant, finishing off his dinner and even stealing a little bit of Shinji's.

"You done?" he asked curiously, indicating the meal as well as the mumbling. "Let's go," he rose, holding out his hand. Shinji was looking oddly at him again.

Finally he took it. "You're being uncute again. You shouldn't be pushy." Ryoma had returned to ignoring him, it seemed, and the only indication that they were associating with each other was their conjoined hands. With his free hand, he grabbed his bag to sling over his shoulder before taking Shinji's.

Shinji set to paying for their meal, complaining the entire way about the price. Ryoma tugged Shinji's hand closer, tucking it into his pocket. Shinji's fingers twitched against his. The smirk the tennis player had grew and he relaxed. The cashier was looking as frazzled as the waitress had, after finishing business with them.

"Jeez, why did he seem so tense?" Shinji demanded when they left. "I was asking valid questions. He shouldn't have brushed me off like that."

"Oi, Shinji!" someone suddenly called for their attention.

Ryoma questioningly peered around Shinji, spotting Kamio and Tachibana. Kamio waved, jogging over. "I thought you said you were going to wait for us, Shinji," the redhead frowned.

"I saw Ryoma-kun," Shinji muttered, facing his friends. "You want me to choose between you? That's horrible and I can't believe you'd think I could."

Kamio blinked, looking helplessly at Ryoma before turning back to his friend. "I…I never said that."

"We were just interested in what caught your attention." Tachibana filled in. He nodded a greeting in Ryoma's direction but didn't otherwise acknowledge him.

The red head shook off the accusations. "And we all ran into each other, right?" he said cheerfully. "We can hang out. You too, Echizen."

Ryoma shook his head. "I have to be getting back." He leaned up, pressing a kiss against Shinji's cheek and smirking a little at the surprised look. "See you tomorrow, ne?" He pushed his boyfriend's bag into his hand.

"Ah…yes," Shinji nodded, staring at him. It seemed to have shocked him into silence at the very least; another reason for Ryoma to be proud. He turned, lifting his hand in farewell as he went down the street. He heard Shinji start talking again, something about him and them being interrupted.

He put his arms behind his head as he walked, his bag hitting against his hip. His footsteps echoed lightly and he found himself resisting the urge to try and make more noise. The sun had dipped past the horizon a little while ago, the last of its rays were casting out over the small area.

He jerked when he heard a trashcan fall over. A cat hopped out, meowing up at him. Ryoma glared down at it. The cat had no qualms with his anger, stretching out and scampering away as he passed.

Ryoma shook his head, shouldering his bag higher. He vaguely pondered stopping at the store for the latest issue of his tennis magazine. "Ryohei, we should check on Ken, shouldn't we?" It was the couple from the café; the other man must have left. Ryoma slowed his pace, letting them pass him. "After everything-" she stopped when the man, Ryohei, tensed.

There was a sharp whine that filled the air, piercing and loud. Ryoma covered his ears with a wince. He glanced to the couple in front of him. Ryohei was staring into the nearby alley with something close to terror. The woman took his arm, "Ryohei! Ryohei!" She shook his arm lightly with concern. "Come on, we'll go see Ken, okay? Ryohei?"

He stopped staring, going into a fast walk to get away from the alley. His girlfriend had to jog to keep up. Ryoma watched them go before he looked to the dark path. He couldn't see directly into it, he had stopped too far away to do that. But he could hear something in there; something moving and shifting against the ground. He could hear it slowly moving forward.

He didn't need the magazine; really. What he really needed was to get home and work on his project for Anjo-sensei. It would be faster to cross the street here than later on, he told himself as he stepped off the sidewalk.

He hurried along, avoiding looking at the place that shunned the light. He could still hear something back there. Almost hesitantly, he glanced over his shoulder. It looked normal, but every one of his senses seemed to know there was something there. He could hear whisper soft movement and he could see the subtle shift of the shadows. Swiftly he turned forward and started walking again. He ignored the sudden wailing, practically breaking out into a run.

The school gates never looked so good in all his life. The grounds seemed a lot safer than anywhere else right now. Ryoma went to the stairs that led up to the dorms and got halfway up before he sat down to catch his breath.

He sighed softly. "What a weird day," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. The wind kicked up, practically drowning out his words. He stretched his arms behind him, waiting to hear and feel the satisfying pop in his back. His fingers twitched when they came in contact briefly with a soft, smooth material. He turned around with a jerk, almost falling off the step in the process.

Nothing was behind him except the rest of the stairs. He lifted his hand and glared at it accusingly for giving him false information. He put it on the cold stone to push himself up. As he did so, he noticed something just to his left, hidden amongst the claw like skeleton of a bush. He reached in, wrapping his fingers around it. It was a cell phone, he realized when he lifted it for inspection.

Very plain looking; silver with a few minor scratches on it and possibly one dent. He flipped it open in an attempt to see who had dropped it. It didn't have any cute dangling chain or some flowery wallpaper so he was left to assume it wasn't one of the other students' girlfriend's phone.

Actually it looked like everything had been wiped off of it. No background, no phone numbers…nothing. He almost tossed it back into the bushes before he paused. He had always needed and wanted a cell phone…If someone had taken the time to remove everything from it, that meant they didn't want it, right?

Finder's keepers. He pocketed the phone as he jogged up the last steps. Inside the dorms was so much different than outside. The dorms were warm, active, alive.

"How could Asakawa-sensei FAIL me?" someone was demanding of their friend. "ME!"

The friend patted his arm in a sympathetic manner. Ryoma unzipped his coat, rubbing at his nose as it ran slightly. He passed by the duo, going down the hall to where his room was situated. "I'm back," he announced.

Aoi glanced up from the computer they had put into their room. "How was it?" he sounded sulky, petulant almost.

For a brief moment, Ryoma considered telling the truth. He was losing his mind in a scary fashion. But instead, he said simply, "Eh." He dropped his bag near the door and went to the desk, ready to focus on his assignment.

"Well, it's so good you had fun," came the airy reply.

Ryoma bent down, balling up a sock and throwing it at his friend. "Grow up," he snorted, "You would have ditched me as soon as the girl gave you a look."

"Not the point!" Aoi threw the sock back. It missed its mark by half the distance. "You owe me, Echizen!"

"Whatever," he shook his head, flopping into his chair.

* * *

It had started snowing at exactly two am and stopped briefly at four seventeen am. Aoi had passed out sometime around three and Ryoma had only been able to crawl into bed at four thirty.

There was something so very wrong about being woken up at the ungodly hour of seven by his overly cheerful roommate. Aoi had gotten over his anger at Ryoma, or else he considered this punishment. Ryoma believed it either way.

He stuffed his sloppily done paper into his bag. At least he had gotten it finished. It was only when they had gotten to the stairs that he realized they could have just skipped class, gotten a full night's sleep and had all day to work on it.

"We're stupid, Aoi," he announced.

Aoi looked confused, "What are you talking about?"

Ryoma trotted down the steps, putting his arms behind his head. "We are some of the stupidest students here," he said nonchalantly.

"Echizen! Start making sense!" Aoi complained, scurrying after. He continued to badger the other all the way into the classroom; probably would have kept right on talking if it hadn't been for class actually starting.

If possible, this class seemed to drag on worse than yesterday's. The words the teacher spoke bled together. Mix with that the annoying whine of the lights overhead was giving Ryoma one hell of a headache. It was like white noise, but he hadn't thought white noise would be so….annoying.

He must have nodded off because the next thing he knew, the bell was blaring and Aoi was at his shoulder again. "Oi, Echizen! Come on, wake up!"

"Hn…" He opened his eyes slowly. There was too much movement going on; it was making the throb just behind his eyes hurt worse. The black haired teen rose from his seat, startling his friend. "I'll be back."

"Echizen?" Aoi called after him in confusion.

Ryoma winced at the loud sound of his fellow students. Making his way to the bathroom had never been harder. But when he reached it, he hesitated. Everyone was moving in and out in such a rush. He turned around; in there would be a rowdy group of students and piercing fluorescent lights. There was another bathroom; out of the way and all but abandoned, yet it remained well stocked.

He wandered a little, watching as the crowds began to thin out upon entering the lesser used hallway. The bathroom he entered was blessedly silent and even a little bit cooler, which was nice since the entire school seemed a little over heated today.

He let himself smile a little as he went to the sink and splashed some water onto his face. The pain behind his eyes eased a bit but the headache didn't. The water dripped into the sink even after being shut off and each drop felt like there was a spike being driven into his skull.

He grabbed some paper towels and patted his face dry, even as a high pitching whine started. He was just exhausted. Maybe he should just skip the rest of school. What good would it do him if he slept through it? Five years and he still didn't have an answer for it outside of 'not any good'.

Lifting his attention to the mirror, he felt his stomach drop and freeze. He hadn't noticed it when coming in but to his right was a large shadow in the vague form of a person. When he had come in there had been no sign of someone being there; no light breathing, no sound of shifting, no sound that accompanied being a person.

The shadow turned, getting hit by the dull overhead light, and he realized why he hadn't noticed anything. It was a lone body, wearing a familiar school uniform and hat. Ryoma stared at it dumbly, finding himself going over to it. There was no way this thing was real. Well, real in the sense that it was what it seemed to be. It very much existed, just….not as he thought.

As his thoughts clambered around in a vain attempt to make sense, he reached out his hand to touch the stiff body. Dead and bulging eyes stared down at him, almost glaring. Uchimura, apparently, didn't like being touched even in death.

Ryoma moved backwards, tripping over his feet in his haste. His hip slammed painfully into the sink and he grabbed it to keep himself from toppling over. The body, it was difficult thinking of it as Uchimura, twisted slowly, spinning around on the chord that kept it suspended from the ceiling. That was wrong; there was no breeze, how could it move? His thoughts didn't seem to be touching on the very important fact that he had touched a dead body!

As if to prove him wrong, Uchimura's body swung a bit more. Ryoma decided that now was a very good time to leave.

* * *

There was one sure fire way of getting high school boys to gossip: tell them about the death of one of their classmates. It was a chain event, really; Ryoma had babbled quickly to one of the teachers, someone over heard him, who then told their friends. The halls were buzzing with the information and when the ambulance arrived, everyone tried to pretend they weren't milling about to see the body.

Ryoma closed his eyes when he heard the sound of the squeaking stretcher. At his left, Aoi was opening gaping, but he wasn't as bad as the others that were hovering like flies. The young man turned his head away, allowing himself to open his eyes just as Tachibana came up, flanked by Kamio. Ryoma was marginally surprised Shinji wasn't with them.

Tachibana frowned at the other students before him, looking far from pleased. He had known Uchimura personally, Ryoma recalled. Whether he was angry with the others or with Uchimura, it wasn't clear; possibly both.

"Let me go!" everyone could hear the voice that was borderline hysterical. "He's not dead!" Silence fell, the little rumors that were started halted, as they watched Uchimura's closest friend try to stop the stretcher with the covered body.

All Ryoma really knew about him was that his name rhymed and he, too, was close to Tachibana. A couple of teachers grabbed him, preventing him from following any further. "Uchimura! Uchimura!"

"Maybe we should…go and offer our condolences…" Kamio started, looking to his friend.

"He wouldn't even hear us right now," Tachibana sighed deeply, shoulders slumping. "We'll keep an eye on him." There was an absent nod as they continued to watch the two former friends being pulled further apart. Ryoma found himself actually wishing Shinji WAS there. He still felt shaken, his insides still felt chilled; he had seen a dead body, touched it.

Aoi touched Ryoma's arm lightly. "Let's go back to our room, okay?" He glanced at their seniors once before starting to walk, fully expecting Ryoma to follow.

Slowly, he did so, glancing over his shoulder as he went. He felt a shudder ripple through his body and he tried to shake the overly bad feeling he had.

tbc

Yes, I know, people don't want to see me start ANOTHER story when I have other stuff to be working on. Never fear! I'm working on them steadily and most of the time it's just me not taking the time to type up.

Now about this story: based loosely on Wishing Stairs (haven't seen it? You should. Released by Tartan Asian Extreme). And this story is going to be the start of a series with no name as of yet. It's a crossover with Bleach, in the sense that I'm using Urahara and Ishida,though they aren't in the same situations as Bleach.


	2. Chapter 2

I warn again: Character deaths, mostly obscure characters but still they are loved by people. And possible OOC still.

* * *

The next day, if possible, was more dismal than the last. Outside flicks of snow were starting to fall yet Ryoma swore he heard something like thunder in the distance. He put his head down on his desk, trying to will it to be silent. Wasn't the day after a death supposed to be silent, somber? But everyone behind him was trying to figure out what had happened since the teacher had stepped out.

"Uchimura-sempai and Mori-sempai had a fight," someone said, keeping their voice low. If the teacher DID come back, no one particularly wanted to be caught talking about someone dead.

"No, no, that wouldn't have done it. He was having problems at home," it was said with firm conviction. "Or maybe-" Ryoma sat up, glaring at the front of the room. Beside him, he noticed Aoi craning his neck around. He wasn't entirely sure if Aoi found this annoying too or if he wanted to be back there trying to figure what had happened; he had always been confusing like that.

Aoi jerked around, almost toppling out of his seat when his cell phone started ringing. He frantically started digging through his bag in an attempt to find the source. It would be his luck that the teacher would come back right then and he'd get in trouble for having it on during class. He pulled it out, flicking it open with practiced ease. Ryoma watched him with disinterest, even as a troubled look fell onto his face. "…Echizen?"

"What?" Ryoma leaned over. It was an e-mail. He raised an eyebrow and Aoi shoved the phone into his hand.

'It hurts so much,' the text read, 'The after life is so painful. Please make it stop. Send this message to fifteen other people or you will find yourself in the same situation.' After the short note was a picture that made Ryoma want to recoil. It was Uchimura in his state of death, dead eyes staring at nothing.

"I don't even KNOW fifteen people, Echizen!" Aoi grabbed him by the shoulders and shook. "I don't want to end up like-" Ryoma dropped the phone to cover his friend's mouth.

His eyes darted to the other students. They were staring but slowly one by one they returned to their speculations. He looked to where the doors were, frowning as he spotted Shinji with two other seniors. "It's just a prank," he assured. Aoi said something against his hand. "What?"

Aoi pulled his hand down, "But…what if it's NOT?"

"It is, trust me." He watched the third year trio sneak away with annoyance. Hesitantly, Aoi picked up his phone, fiddling with the strap as if not sure he wanted to risk deleting the message. Damn it, Ryoma's headache was back with a vengeance. "I'll be right back," he rose from his seat to leave the classroom.

He made his way to the bathroom (the one that was populated during busier times of the day) and went directly to the faucets. Maybe he was getting sick, he pondered absently while he turned the water on. That would explain the frequent headaches and the sheer exhaustion. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that he had been the one to find…

No, he sharply shook his head. He was not thinking of that. He didn't want to think of it and he wasn't going to think of it. He was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the soft rattle of the door knob.

For some reason his mind didn't see fit to tell him, he dodged backwards into the stall furthest from the door. "Your boyfriend ruined everything, dane," came the complaint, "Thanks a lot, Shinji." He heard the sound of feet.

Strangely enough there was no rant or ramble about how it wasn't Ryoma's fault or, yeah, it really was. "Really, Yanagisawa is right. If it hadn't been for him, there would have been a panic. Do you know how amusing that would have been?"

When Shinji finally spoke, it was incredibly soft, "We went too far."

"Are you saying it was OUR fault, dane?" Yanagisawa demanded, sounding scandalized.

"Look," the other boy, Ryoma was fairly certain he was named Akazawa, said, "Uchimura must have had a lot of problems." He went to the faucet, turning it off. Ryoma moved closer to the wall, trying to melt himself into the shadows. "We didn't make him commit suicide. He did that all on his own. Understand, Shinji?"

There was that unnerving silence again. "Yeah," his voice was still quiet.

"Good, we're just going to put that behind us. I'm sure if this prank works, it'll make everything better." There was the sound of the door opening and their voices faded. Cautiously, Ryoma left the stall. Strangely, the only thought running through his head was that Ibu Shinji was capable of silence.

He finally returned to the classroom, dropping himself into his seat next to Aoi. His roommate had finally put his phone away but wasn't looking much more confident over it. It seemed that despite Ryoma's first efforts, the letter had been expanded. From the way Aoi was watching the students frantically send e-mails, he was pretty sure the other boy had taken his advice though.

It was next to impossible for Anjo-sensei to even get their attention. It became actually impossible five minutes later when he STILL had no one's attention. "Class dismissed," he waved a hand in the air, using the other to rub the side of his face. That managed to catch everyone's interest. The teacher scowled unhappily as he watched the students collect their things. "Ah, Aoi-kun," he called as he spotted him and Ryoma starting for the door, "when you get to the dorms, start packing. A single room opened up." He blinked in confusion as everyone seemed to go deathly silent.

"A single room?" someone finally whispered.

"It JUST opened?" another murmured.

"It was Uchimura's," came a hiss.

Aoi was beginning to panic, looking from his classmates to Ryoma accusingly. "HE didn't send the letter, did he?" That was enough for Ryoma. He grabbed the taller teen's arm and pulled him from the room.

"I'm going to die!" he yelped in horror.

Ryoma glared when Akazawa and Yanagisawa walked past them, quietly snickering. "You're not going to die."

"I am," he sounded like he wanted to sob.

"You're so slow. Uchimura-sempai roomed with Mori-sempai. You're going to a single room," he pointed pout.

Aoi paused, "It…used to belong to him?"

Ryoma stared at him blankly before turning and starting for the dorms. "I'm glad you're leaving," he tossed over his shoulder.

"What? Echizen! That's so mean!" Aoi hurried after him, "Echizen!" He chased after him until they reached the stairs leading up to their building. "That was mean," he repeated.

"You were being dumb," he countered.

"It wasn't dumb! It's a very real concern! What if he…" Aoi trailed off, looking over Ryoma's shoulder. Ryoma glanced back. "Hello, Mori-sempai," he said softly, dropping his gaze.

Mori looked like hell, like anyone who had lost their best friend. He was pale and his eyes look haunted. The two noticed there were faint tremors running over his body. He stared at them for a long minute but finally moved up the stairs. "Geez," Aoi sighed, relaxing a little, "what did WE do?"

There was a small snort. "Maybe he didn't want anyone seeing him use the wishing stairs."

Aoi blinked and then laughed softly. "Nobody uses them," he said, starting up as well.

"Not that they work."

"Eh? You've TRIED them?"

"I wished Shinji would be quiet." As Aoi laughed, Ryoma realized he HAD gotten his wish. He hadn't been very specific on how or why Shinji went quiet…"Let's go get you packed. You'll be a celebrity for not dying."

* * *

There was a lot of room without Aoi or his stuff testing the boundaries of his side, Ryoma realized while observing the other side. Packing had been easy, if a bit slow. Aoi had wanted to believe Ryoma but it was hard, especially when walking down the halls everyone had been silent. They were mourning him all ready.

The sad thing was, he wasn't exaggerating. After Aoi had closed the door behind his new room and Ryoma had gone back to his, people had started talking. "If Aoi dies, does that mean another curse is going to be in place?" he heard out in the hall.

"I liked Aoi too!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes, going to his desk and fishing out his CD player. They would go on forever; he didn't particularly see the appeal of morbidly going over every detail of what may happen.

Ignoring the chatter outside, he changed into his pajamas and crawled into his bed. He turned off the light, staring at the empty half off the room. He sighed softly and put on his headphones. The noise was muffled, then finally drown out by the music.

Again he focused on the other side. He wasn't actually missing Aoi, was he? He snorted to himself, closing his eyes. Of course he wasn't. He was just getting used to the idea and he was HAPPY over it.

He wasn't sure when he drifted off but when he stirred awake it was still dark. He blinked sleepily, realizing absently that he was now facing the wall. What had woken him? Rolling on to his back, he felt something tighten around his neck. Clumsily, his fingers reached up and felt something thin and smooth.

About the time he remembered it was the chord of his headphones, he realized the CD was skipping. Badly at that. He shut it off, pushing it under his pillow. He was fully intending on going back to sleep when there was a brilliant flash of red.

He sat up, rubbing the sleep quickly from his eyes. Had he just imagined that? Or had he…had a mild brain seizure or something? Hesitantly, he set his feet on the ground and went over to the window.

There was nothing outside that immediately caught his attention. A few lamplights were on, maybe that had been what he had seen. But then his attention was drawn to the stairs and one lone figure on them. He wasn't sure how late it was, but he knew it was late enough that it was odd someone was out.

A low pitch whine reached his ears, making him wince. He didn't take his eyes off the person though. With each step going up, the whine seemed to swell before dimming once more. He watched the figure take a step, pause, then take another step. He was counting; Ryoma didn't need to hear him to know what he was doing.

When he knew what he was doing, the who became clear. Mori was the one out there, probably planning on begging the stairs to grant him one wish. Ryoma vaguely wondered what it was; to die and be with Uchimura again?

The whine was reaching an unbearable pitch now and he quickly shut the curtain. That allowed some relief; there was still a dull after throb but nothing too bad. He went back to his bed, hitting the pillow harshly before lying down. Honestly, this school was becoming far too weird.

* * *

It was a loud pounding on his door that woke him the second time. He groaned lightly, pressing his face into his pillow. The pounding got louder before the door opened. "Echizen! Get up!" Aoi peered in.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Ryoma demanded.

Aoi sat down on the stripped bed, stretching his legs out. "I lived!"

The shorter teen stared at him before hurling a pillow in his direction. "I wish you hadn't." He finally got out of bed, grabbing his uniform.

Aoi easily batted the pillow away. "I know you don't really mean that," he laughed. "I think everyone was just waiting for me to be carted out of here."

"Of course," Ryoma pulled his shirt over his head, not wanting to bother with unbuttoning and then rebuttoning it. "What fun are you if you're alive?"

"When did you become this sarcastic and cynical?" Aoi rose from the bed, heading for the door.

Ryoma declined to comment as he finished pulling on his uniform jacket and then grabbing his outer one. Even as they stepped out into the halls, they could hear the hushed whispers trying to confirm or deny Aoi's death. "Hey," Aoi nudged him while heading out of the dorms, "if they determine I'm actually dead, think I could miss the rest of classes?"

There was a roll of eyes and another decision to keep quiet. They moved in sync to the stairs that would take them down to the school. Ryoma found himself hesitating at the top, staring down at the stepped and slightly cracked steps. Last night came back to him, mostly just the flash and the horrible whine.

He moved back a step when Mori passed by him, walking down the steps. Ryoma suppressed the shiver that wanted to rise up as the older student brushed past him. Aoi seemed to finally realize his friend wasn't at his side. "Echizen?" he, too, moved to the side a little when Mori came down. Mori glanced from Aoi to Ryoma before looking forward again with the tiniest of quirks to his lips.

There was something very, very off, Ryoma realized. He turned to head back to the dorm building but felt something grab his hand. He jerked away and flailed as he lost balance. He grunted as he slammed into Aoi. "Graceful, Echizen," Aoi grinned.

"Tch," again Ryoma jerked free, this time remaining his balance.

"It looks like Mori-sempai is doing a bit better," he offered as he took Ryoma by the elbow to prevent him from leaving. Ryoma let Aoi pull him down to the bottom before shaking him off. "Ne, let's go get some breakfast," Aoi was all ready starting for the cafeteria.

"I'll see you in class," he corrected, "I'm not really hungry." Aoi looked scandalized at the very thought but Ryoma was all ready walking away.

Ryoma was fairly certain Shinji had morning clean up duty; his boyfriend had complained about it often enough. He wasn't overly sure why he wanted to see Shinji; maybe just so he could be close or maybe demand just what the hell he had done to Uchimura.

He pushed open the door and walked a little ways in. It was so quiet here…he was used to when this place was full of students, all trying to talk above each other. He could faintly hear the sound of people moving about, but even then he had to strain and probably make it up slightly.

He took a startled step forward when the door finally slammed shut behind him. He shook himself off, starting to walk down the halls. With a quick glance out the window, he noticed the dark clouds were back, blotting out the sun quite effectively. As he stared, he was beginning to realize just how alone he was. Since Aoi had left, he hadn't seen on person. The yards were empty, the halls were empty…

He was glad for how empty it was when he nearly jumped out of his skin because of a loud chime. He looked around, trying to locate where the dark melody was coming from. "Answer your phone!" Ryoma jumped again at Akazawa's voice. He refocused, seeing the senior down the hall. Akazawa glared at him before going into one of the classrooms.

Ryoma was briefly confused. He didn't have a cell phone so how…as the tune fell silent, he remembered. He pulled his bag around and started digging until he unearthed the slightly scarred cell phone from under his books and notebooks.

As soon as he pulled it out, it started playing its ring tone once more. He flipped it open, finding an e-mail waiting for him. He hadn't give out the number to anyone…hell, he didn't even know the number himself.

'It hurts,' it started, 'it hurts so much…I can't move. Send this message to fifteen other people or you will find yourself in the same situation.' After it was a picture. Ryoma had been expecting to see Uchimura; somehow this cell number was on one of his classmates' phones. But Uchimura wasn't in the picture; instead it was Akazawa. He eyes were wide open, staring at nothing while blood trickled out of his mouth to pool with the blood that was forming from a wound caused by glass.

"Idiot," Ryoma muttered softly, shutting the phone. Was he really supposed to believe THIS chain letter? Especially after seeing Akazawa? He wasn't like the rest of the student body.

* * *

After Akazawa had closed the door, he sighed deeply. He had never particularly liked or disliked Echizen Ryoma before. He had always just been some first year student that he knew because of his relationship with Shinji. But lately, he had found himself disliking his junior more and more.

"Damn," he muttered when he realized the science room was completely dark. He scowled at the far wall that should have had windows but didn't since 'sunlight would hurt delicate experiments that would be performed' if anyone believed the teacher. He reached out, flicking the light switch. Nothing happened. He flipped it up and down a few more times with the same result. "Oh come ON."

He wanted to just abandon the cleaning job here. He had never saw the point of cleaning after classes had finished and then cleaning before classes started. Maybe the owner of the school was obsessive compulsive and couldn't stand the very idea of dust trying to settle over night. But there was probably some hidden mess here and when the teacher found it, demanding who was responsible, Ryoma would point him out.

It wasn't TOO dark at least; he'd manage to move around without running into anything. He grabbed a rag that was over by the sink, wetting it. He had only just started wiping down the counters when he heard a soft thump of something soft hitting the ground. He looked around the room but most of the corners were too dark to see if anything was there. Slowly, he went back to his duty.

Behind him, he could hear the soft sound of movement, or what he assumed was movement's sound. It was very faint, something being dragged lightly across the floor. He continued to clean, valiantly ignoring any idea that there was something behind him. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could get out of here.

He ran his hand over the surface of the counter, looking for anything that needed immediate attention. He froze when his hand came in contact with something definitely NOT the smooth marble. He remained like that, fingers twitching every so often as it took in the feel of cold, hardened flesh with a hint of grittiness on it.

The sudden movement of the hand under his made him realize in every corner of his mind that this wasn't RIGHT. He backed up quickly, running right into the sink. He tried to pinpoint what he had seen but there was nothing there. His breath caught when he heard a delicate crack. He turned slightly to see the mirror behind him begin to splinter in different directions.

But that wasn't what was really worrying him. Even though he hadn't seen at the counter before, now he did. He could see it as clearly as if they were in daylight. He could see the person behind him with their hat tilted down and the clothing rumpled and dirty. Fingertips steadily dripped blood from where fingernails used to be.

Akazawa started moving his mouth, trying to draw in air that got stuck half way down his throat. He turned around quickly, going to move to his right to get away from this create but only managed to stumble. "Get away from me!" he demanded, like that would actually happen. Uchimura took a step around the counter, lifting an arm. Akazawa tried to run again and this time wound up stumbling over his own two feet. His legs refused to hold his weight under their shaking.

He pulled himself along the floor, waiting for his legs to work again but not exactly thrilled at the idea of sitting there while Uchimura came closer. The other boy's hands wrapped around Akazawa's throat, lifting him up. Akazawa's eyes widened marginally and his brain could only really be amazed at how…strong Uchimura was now. But when fingers tightened, his brain decided it was going to focus on the powerful scent of dirt, decay, and incense.

Uchimura's gripe started crushing his throat, cutting off the air passageway. In that moment, Akazawa decided he did NOT want to die. He put his hands again the chest that didn't move with a heartbeat or breath and shoved.

The hands released him enough to let him stumble back. The senior slammed violently into the bookcase, sending a shower of beakers and books around him. Uchimura didn't seem overly displeased with actions; in fact where Akazawa could see his face, there was a small smirk.

Akazawa didn't want to dwell on this anymore than he had to and only when he was in a safe place. He started moving forward only to be stopped by an arm and the sound of something very large starting to tip. He looked from Uchimura to the bookcase behind him seconds before the heavy object slammed him into the ground.

He heard something break though he couldn't feel WHAT had broken. He could feel where glass cut into his throat and where he had bitten his tongue. Weakly, he turned his head, ignoring when glass cut into his cheek.

His vision was dimming and it was hard trying to think. He stared blankly at Uchimura's legs, at his feet that had no shoes on. He wasn't going to die here; he was going to be okay. He just had to keep telling himself that.

There was the distant sound of the door slamming open and he thought he saw someone replace Uchimura…but then everything went black.

tbc

General note to everyone: Thank you for the reviews! And also, if you've been keeping up with and liking The Heirloom, check around some time tomorrow. I'll be sending the next part to be checked over by a friend and then it should be up.

To flying jade, Bonnie Mizuhara, and liar just a liar: Thank you for your continued interest in the Into the Demon's Den stuff after all this time (It's been like a year, hasn't it?). Ryoma's Baby WAS started but I disliked it since I went back over it. It hasn't been abandoned, it just needs some more development.

And for flying jade again: Masters of Japan, I think, is waiting for me to finish at least Into the Woods and The Heirloom before going back to it.


	3. Chapter 3

The police were called this time. It could have been an accident, but no one could really explain how footprints made it into the blood. Sure there was the chance that the kid had slit his own throat, stumbled around in the blood and managed to tip the bookcase over, but it all felt a little too surrealistic of scenario.

Nakagawa scrubbed a hand over his face, glancing at his partner Yamada. Things just weren't going their way it seemed. "So…you found Akazawa's body," he said once more to the young teen in front of him. There was a small nod. Nakagawa wasn't sure how much help this was going to be; the kid was still shocky. "Did you see anyone leaving the area?"

Ryoma hesitated; his lips thinned out and his slightly glassy eyes narrowed. "No," there was the barest hint of a rising tone at the end, like he wasn't overly sure.

Most people wouldn't have noticed such a thing but Nakagawa wasn't a detective because he ignored such things. Ryoma was covering up for someone. "We were also told you found the body of a," he looked down at the notebook that had a long list of names, "Uchimura."

"And?" came the sharp demand.

"You seem awfully unlucky to be finding all these dead people," he smirked slightly as the implications seemed to be forcing Ryoma out of his horrified shell. "But then Uchimura was a suicide, wasn't he?" He pulled back when a foot was shoved into his face.

"Do you see blood there?" Ryoma raised an eyebrow. He lifted the other foot, "Or there?" When all he got was silence, he put his feet down. "I found him, I didn't kill him, I didn't see anyone."

"What about people who don't like Akazawa?"

There was the thinning of the lips again. "I don't know."

"Come now, was he that-"

"I don't know," Ryoma repeated firmly, "Akazawa-sempai and I weren't friends."

He leaned back in his chair, finally shaking off the remnants of the shock that made him feel so lethargic. "Can I GO now?"

Nakagawa sighed softly, waving him off. The kid had a point; the fact there was no blood on his shoes helped his case quite a bit. It was the only thing they really had going for them. There was a flaw with the footprints themselves anyway. They had looked like they had walked a couple of steps from the body and then vanished. Even if the person had realized they needed to take off their shoes, there would have been a bit more of a trail, a few more drops of blood leading out the door. Someone would have had to seen such a thing anyway.

"Nakagawa-san," Yamada placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning down, "the student Ibu-kun was talking about is here."

The older detective turned to him. "Which one?" The conversation with Ibu Shinji had been jumbled at best. He talked about Ryoma, Uchimura, Akazawa…hell, he probably talked about the entire school with how many names they had gotten from him.

Yamada looked over his shoulder to the student who stood just inside the door. "Mori Tatsunori." The student in question seemed quiet enough, though a little out of it. He may not have been fully with them, making Nakagawa wonder if they should possibly testing for drugs. He raised an eyebrow at the way Ryoma practically plastered himself against the wall to avoid him when he left. "Mori-kun, here, please take a seat. When Mori sat, he didn't really look at them; he looked far more interested in a spot that was through them. Nakagawa once again wondered if drug testing would be in order.

Ryoma watched them until Yamada gave him a bow and closed the door. "How'd it go?" Aoi asked from his position crouched nearby. He stood, going to his friend's side. "They're really asking everyone."

"Mm," came the soft noise. They started walking, taking note of how people were talking a little frantically on their cell phones. Even in the dorms, people had phones glued to their ears. "Bad news travels fast, huh?"

Aoi trailed after him into his room. "Nothing travels faster. He fell silent for a moment. "Hey, Echizen…do you think that maybe because-"

"If the next words out of your mouth are 'because Akazawa-sempai didn't send the letter he died', I'm banning you from this room and not talking to you for a month." He flopped down on the bed, huffing lightly. "Akazawa-sempai made up the original. It's a fake."

Aoi sat at the foot of the bed so he could continue to look Ryoma in the face. "Then what happened to him?"

Ryoma stared at the ceiling silently. He could feel the cell phone he picked up prodding him in the hip. He suddenly hated himself for thinking it was another prank, for not looking into the bad feeling. "It was an accident," he finally said, though he felt he meant more the ignoring part than the death itself.

That appeased the other teen. "My parents aren't going to like this," he gave a mournful sigh, "When they find out, I'll probably have to leave!"

"I thought you hated boarding school," there was lurking amusement in Ryoma's voice.

"But that was until I met Echizen!" He brightened suddenly and moved closer into Ryoma's personal space. "Ne, ne, Echizen doesn't have parents, so if I transfer, he can follow, right?"

"I have parents, Aoi, I wasn't spawned." It was just a minor matter of finding said parents. His mother had essentially disappeared off the face of the earth five years ago. After that, things had gotten really weird for his father. One day two years ago, Echizen Nanjiroh had sent his son off to school and, in a nutshell, told him to never come back. No one had been in contact with him since.

Aoi rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean. It would be great. You would miss me if we were parted, admit it!"

"I refuse on the grounds that it's untrue!" Ryoma rolled to his other side only to be pounced. "Get off!"

"Admit it first!" Aoi settled more of his weight on top of him.

Ryoma kicked his feet, attempting to shove him off. "Never!" That just sent more pressure down on top of him.

* * *

The following day had been more somber than any other recently. It had been interesting speculating why someone had committed suicide. It was even kind of thrilling to try and figure out why someone had murdered one of their own. But to have them happen so close together made it all so…real. It stripped away the idea that it wasn't really happening, that it was just something that happened to someone else. 

Everyone was silent throughout the day. The teachers didn't even bother asking questions since each time they did, the students looked like a rabbit faced with its own death. Ryoma had glanced over at Aoi a few times; the other had seemed…well he was being QUIET. Aoi was never quiet, not for any occasion. Ryoma hadn't breeched the topic in class, had no desire to let so many witnesses see his "caring" side, as it would be called.

So he waited; he waited for the last class to finish and waited for Aoi to start for his room. He didn't try calling for his attention just yet. Even with everyone going to the building silently, it was still too loud and would draw attention to himself.

Ryoma gave a soft huff when Aoi kept moving down the halls, going to his own room like a ghost or something. He went into his own, tossing his bag to the side. He was about to turn around and go out again when he noticed the cell phone. It sat on top of a book, looking innocent and waiting to be used. It was silent, still. Ryoma frowned, going over to it. He stared down at it with slightly clenched hands. He knew he had put that thing away; he hadn't wanted to touch it or even see it.

Almost like it sensed his scorn, the phone came to life, ringing and vibrating across the book. Ryoma grabbed it and almost violently shut it off. The room fell silent again, letting him smirk and think putting the phone back into the drawer was a casual act. He didn't even ponder why he wasn't just throwing the stupid thing out.

With a forced, nonchalant air, he turned away and continued to Aoi's room. "Yo, Ao-" he stopped right after he opened the door. Inside the room, boxes had accumulated. Which wasn't so odd, really; Aoi HAD just moved in only a little while ago. What was odd was the guilty expression on his friend's face. "What?" Ryoma asked a little blankly.

"Echizen!" Aoi looked like he hadn't expected him. "I…wasn't expecting you." He fumbled with one of the boxes, pushing it just out of view and attempting quite valiantly to hide the sound of tape being torn.

The silence threatened to deafen both of them. Time actually felt like it had slowed way down. "You're leaving," Ryoma finally said in his place.

Aoi looked over his shoulder, opening his mouth briefly. He shut it quickly; he had been about to protest. "Yeah," he said softly, "I didn't know how to tell you."

"You make it sound so dramatic." He wandered over to the other side, helping hold the box while Aoi sealed it shut. "Where are you going?"

That brought a smile to Aoi's face. "Rokkaku. It's near my house."

Ryoma made a small humming noise, "Wasn't that your first choice anyway?"

"Ah, Echizen remembers!" Aoi crowed in delight. "No matter how much you pretend, you still care!"

"Yeah, I care so much I'll carry boxes down to get you out of here." It wasn't because he actually wanted to spend a little more time with Aoi. It wasn't because he would actually MISS him when he left. He just wanted to get rid of Aoi all the faster. Really.

By the smirk he was given, he hadn't pulled it off as successfully as he wanted to believe. "I see, I see," he was too smug, rubbing a hand under his chin and smirking more. Ryoma sighed, grabbing the tape and, in one smooth motion, ripping off some and sticking it on Aoi's mouth.

Ryoma gave him a smile, "Much better. Ah the sound of silence, I don't hear nearly enough of you."

"That wasn't nice at all!" Aoi snapped, pulling away the tape. "You're so cruel to me, Echizen."

He leaned on the box in front him, putting his chin on both of his hands. "Yet you claim I'm your best friend," he gave him a serious look, "Why do you think that is?"

Aoi copied his motion, "Because you're the only one I can trust around my girls." A few seconds ticked by and he gave Ryoma a grin. Almost reluctantly, Ryoma smiled back, giving a soft laugh. "It's true, you know? Everyone I else would be trying to take them away."

Ryoma sighed, "Girls are annoying."

"See, this is why we get along so great. You don't touch my women and I don't touch your tennis stuff. It all works out really well." Aoi nodded firmly to himself. Anything Ryoma might have said in response was lost by the overly cheerful ring of Aoi's cell phone. "Hello? Eh? Kenji??"(1) he looked surprised before irritation seemed to set in, "What do you mean you're here all ready? Dad said you wouldn't be here for another hour!"

Ryoma watched Aoi fret, pacing back and forth and doing little hops over boxes. "Well you're going to have to wait anyway," Aoi said fiercely, plopping down onto the floor. "I'm not ready; if I'm not ready, I'm not ready!" He hung up abruptly. "Kenji is so annoying."

"What did you need an hour for anyway?" Ryoma asked idly. Almost everything was still in boxes and it wouldn't take him that long to move everything downstairs, even if he was by himself.

Aoi sulked a little, poking his fingers together. "I figured that was how long it would have taken me to come up with an excuse."

"Why didn't you just," Ryoma stood fluidly, looking down at him, "leave and then call me to tell me?" Aoi got a wide eyed expression of his face, smacking his forehead. "What are you going to do without me there to think for you?"

"Hey, hey, hey, I can think well on my own!"

The shorter boy picked up a box, "Looks like it's time for you to go. Can't keep your brother waiting." He ignored Aoi's yelps as he started out the door.

Between them, the work seemed to fly by much too fast for either one. Aoi talked but Ryoma didn't hear any of it until, "Mou, Echizen really IS mean. This is the last box."

Both looked down at said box. The box sat there innocently enough. "Indeed it is," Ryoma uttered in agreement. "Hey!" He yelped when he was grabbed tightly by Aoi. "Aoi…Aoi, let go!" But Aoi didn't release him from the hug; he tightened his arms and squeezed. Finally Ryoma sighed and wrapped his own arms around him. "So long as it's not about girls, call me anytime."

Aoi patted his back soundly, breathing deeply. He was quiet until he asked, "Echizen….are you crying to?"

"Like hell I am." Ryoma lifted a hand to rub against his cheeks to make sure what he had said was accurate. "You should get to the car. Your brother is waiting."

"Yeah, I…yeah." Aoi pulled away and picked up the box. The two made their way to the front of the school where the car was parked. "Bye, Echizen."

"See you, Aoi," Ryoma offered a half hearted wave as the car pulled away. He gave a sigh, rubbing at his cheeks again. It was going to be a lot quieter here without him…That was going to be a good thing, right?

He trailed along the back of the school, not really wanting to return to the dorm rooms just yet. He leaned against the wall, sliding down into a seated position. He looked up to the sky, watching dark grey clouds roll along as darkness inched its way over the area. Maybe one of them would bring snow again. He kind of hoped so; he was never really sure why but he did like it.

A sudden sharp shiver ran over his body and he pushed away from the wall. He carefully rubbed his back, looking at the wall. He placed a hand against the bricks. It was warm, as was the air around him. After a sudden spurt of snow and wind, it had warmed up again. He pushed himself up to peer inside the window he had been under.

Inside it was dark, all the lights had been shut off earlier, but he could still make out a room that had tape in front of it. The science room where only a day before Akazawa had died. Another shudder ran over his body and he had to wonder if anyone would feel right in that room ever again.

He turned to start back for the stairs when something flashed in the corner of his eye. He looked back into the window, peering in closer. It was too dark to really make out anything but it almost seemed like something was shifting in the darkness. Something was moving around, getting marginally closer by the second. A low filled his ears as he leaned in closer, wondering vaguely if he was going to pass out.

A hand touched his should, causing he to jerk forward and smack his head on the window. "Ow," he hissed, turning around quickly. His heart throbbed heavily in his chest, no matter how he told it it had no reason to do so. He scowled in irritation when he realized it was just an older man, possibly a new teacher. "What?" he questioned expectantly.

"What are you doing?" he pushed up his glasses.

Ryoma blinked, not entirely sure how to answer that. "What are YOU doing?"

It seemed he had caught the newcomer off guard. He looked surprised Ryoma had even thought to ask. "Ah…" he started slowly, like he was attempting to come up with a reason.

"I'm a student here, what's your excuse?" Ryoma continued, crossing his arms over his chest.

The man's eyes lit up and he reached into his pocket. Ryoma actually moved back a step when a business card was thrust at him. "My card," he indicated when Ryoma looked like it might bite him.

He took it hesitantly, gripping it between his fingers. It was a normal enough card; neat and even print revealed the stranger's name was Tezuka Kunimitsu and he worked at a place called Kyokugaisha(2). "Tezuka-san?" he looked up, "That doesn't really answer my question."

"I have a few questions I would like to ask," Tezuka watched him for a moment, "It might be better if we went somewhere else for now, though."

"Are you trying to hit on me…?" Ryoma asked a little uncertainly. Because if he was, this man wasn't really doing a good job of it.

Tezuka's stern face got even sterner. "I just have some questions," he repeated.

Ryoma soon found himself in a small coffee shop that wasn't even a block away from the school. He wondered, idly, how exactly he had wound up here since he had fully intended on walking away from Tezuka. "So," he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, "questions?"

"I'm doing an article on school based urban legends." The older man toyed with the cup in front of him, adjusting the tea bag.

"Urban legends?" Ryoma repeated. It didn't sound like something that was exactly…topical or mattered much in the big picture of life.

He nodded slightly, "A number of schools have them. A lot of the legends originate from schools or from the students. Such as Hanako-san and the red room."(3)

"I've heard about that one," Ryoma said, running his fingers around the rim of his class. "It was at that school…Yamabuki, right? It really happened though."

Tezuka looked at him with something like amusement. It rubbed Ryoma the wrong away and he looked to the side. "There were certain circumstances involved that made it seem like it." Ryoma wasn't really caring for the patronizing tone he had adopted either. "But I can assure you, no one has ever committed suicide after painting their room red with blood."

He should just get up and leave. He didn't really have to take this. "Or maybe it really did happen and you just don't want to admit it." He didn't know why he was defending a position he didn't fully believe in. "Strange things happen like that all the time." He stood, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Wait, wait," Tezuka took his wrist, not pulling him back but not letting him leave either. "There's a legend about the stairs…what is it?"

Ryoma looked back at him, frowning slightly. "Certain circumstances, right?" He smirked at the slightly uncomfortable look Tezuka got. He sat down again, glancing away. "It's said, when you count the steps out loud, a twenty ninth will appear." He looked back to Tezuka, watching him jot something down. "When that happens, you're eligible to have your wish granted."

Tezuka looked up, a slight frown on his features. "Grants your wish? Who? Does the step always appear?"

He lifted his hands in a shrug, "Not always. At least I don't think so. Not a whole lot of people talk about it." He didn't think a whole lot of people wanted to admit to trying to use them and then failing. The ones that did speak of succeeding, Ryoma remembered had been fairly desperate. "As for who…it's the fox."

"The fox," Tezuka repeated, unsure if he had incorrectly. "A fox grants the wish."

"The spirit in the stairs, it's a fox." Or so everyone would believe. That was who they begged to in their desperation. It just seemed right. "You're not going to put my name in the article, are you?" he asked curiously, peering at the small tablet.

The older man cleared his throat. "Would you rather I not?"

There was another smirk as Ryoma stood. "You may be confident to be named in such a magazine but I'd rather not."

tbc

1 – As you can probably guess, original characters will be apart of this series. Ten to one says some of them will be related to the characters. I'll try and keep them as minor plot devices only, thank you.

2 – The kanji means 'outsider' or 'onlooker'. Why didn't I just translate the magazine name into English? Can't I just be allowed one piece of fangirl Japanese a year? Please?

3 – Two Japanese based urban legends. Hanako-san is a ghost that supposedly hides in a bathroom, opening and closing doors. When someone knocks on the door, she appears to frighten them. The Red Room is actually a flash animation; you can check out what it is in full detail on Wikipedia. The short version: After visiting a website, two students committed suicide after painting their rooms red with blood, as stated by Tezuka above.

Wow, nothing really happened in this part. I'm sort of ashamed of that fact. Next part of this is probably going to be the last part, since I'm getting to the point where I can wrap it up. Isn't that exciting??


	4. Chapter 4

The sun had gone further down by the time he slipped out of the little shop. He stared at the skyline for a long minute and had to wonder if it was just him or did the days seem to be getting shorter and shorter? He tried to recall what he had been doing for the past couple of days but…nothing. It felt like a complete blank.

He ran a hand over his face. Could he be blamed for that? His brain felt addled, on the sluggish side. He started to walk back towards the school, trying to really think of anything that needed to be remembered.

After he reached his room, closing the door quietly behind, he noticed how…silent everything had been. The little coffee shop had been muted with no loud machines grinding coffee or people talking and laughing. The streets had been almost deserted with only one or two cars and every hall he had gone through in the building had been empty.

A shiver worked up his spine. He didn't like it when it was so quiet; it just seemed unnatural. "Knock it off," he finally muttered to himself. It wasn't "unnaturally quiet". He was just used to Aoi being unnaturally loud, everything else was by comparison.

He went over to his bed, dropping onto it with a sigh. It took him a minute to realize he hadn't even bothered turning on the light. "Damn it." He flung an arm over his eyes. He really was losing it. It all kind of felt like it was boiling over. He was desperately trying to avoid recalling the only two clear points in his memory.

Uchimura-sempai…he couldn't think about that name without seeing a corpse that continued to glare after death. He tried to recall one incident where he and his sempai had interacted but every time he came close, that visage returned.

Rolling to his side, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Now Akazawa-sempai's body flashed before his eyes and with it came doubts. Why hadn't he believed the chain letter? Akazawa had died only ten feet away from him, why hadn't he seen or done anything?

He reopened his eyes, staring at the other side of the room. Why was this happening to him? Was it him? Did he, for some unknown reason, bring this on himself? The only answer was a muffled, demonic ringtone.

No…he had shut it off. He KNEW he had shut it off before going to see Aoi. The music continued to play, continued to mock him. It wanted Ryoma to look at it; it wanted Ryoma to know who was next.

He kicked the desk hard, hard enough to feel an aching throb of an aftershock. It made the phone stop though. When it hit against the side of the drawer it was in, it had fallen silent. He felt smug, even if there was the barest chance of him having a limp in the morning.

He pulled his leg close, messaging the hurt body part. It was still achy, not particularly liking what he had…his thoughts slowed to a stop when he heard a new sound. It was faint but he seemed to be wired to hear anything. It sounded, almost, like someone was trying the doorknob and wanted to be sneaky about it.

The handle jiggled lightly and he scooted back closer to the wall. This was ridiculous! His body was getting tensed up over nothing. People were bound to wander around at all hours of the way, doors shifted all the time…There was a click as the knob turned all the way. Okay, that wasn't normal, but someone was probably feeling as dazed as him and got the wrong room.

Moving only his eyes, he looked up. The door opened a crack and he could see the hallway was dark. How strange; the lights were always dimly light. Always. He looked back down to the handle where there was a brief flash of pale, pale skin.

See? The person had realized it was the wrong place. He almost went back to examining his leg when he saw the pale hand return at the top of the frame. It was far too pale for anyone he knew, stark white against a black back. The fingers were abnormally long and thin with sharp looking nails. It trailed down slowly, like it was looking for a light switch or something else. The door creaked open further to allow an arm in.

Ryoma closed his eyes again. It wasn't there; even though he could hear the soft movements, it wasn't there. This was all some figment of his imagination. Pretty soon, he'd find out that the person on the other side was Uchimura or Akazawa and they were going to tell him why they were haunting him before pulling him down into darkness.

The room quieted once more and he risked opening his eyes. "What are you doing, Ryoma?" Shinji asked, mere inches from Ryoma's face. He looked confused when Ryoma tried to scramble back further against the wall. "You act as if you saw something horrible. Are you implying I'm horrible? I don't have a scary face and people think I'm actually quite pleasant. I don't understand why you would think that…"

"What are you doing here, Shinji?" he demanded, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

Shinji was silent for a strangely long time. "Can I stay here for tonight?" This time it wasn't followed up by a long speech that basically boiled down to Ryoma had no right to judge him.

Ryoma watched him in the darkness. "You don't talk in your sleep, do you?"

"Of course not," he seemed as indignant as he could get, "I don't talk more than the average person. Why does everyone seem to think that? That's one of the first things they come on. 'You talk a lot'. I do NOT."

"I'm going to sleep." Sleep was safe; there wasn't constant chatting or feelings of guilt during sleep. He crawled off the bed, searching blindly for the clothing he used as pajamas. He could feel Shinji staring at him but he wasn't talking. It felt like someone had stolen his skin, playing pretend.

Oh honestly what was wrong with him? Jumping at shadows, feeling guilty over things that weren't his fault, thinking that something was replacing people…he got back into bed, moving close to his boyfriend. "Good night," he offered softly, trying to ignore the pit in his stomach.

* * *

It was heat that woke him. A sweltering, unbearable heat that made him feel like his throat was a desert. He didn't really WANT to wake up but his body wasn't giving him much of a choice.

He rolled to his side, moving his mouth in an attempt to get saliva going. Slowly opening eyes, he stared into Shinji's sleeping face. He smiled when he realized the only noise he was making was a soft huff as he breathed in and out.

Careful fingers reached up to touch Shinji's face. As far as boyfriends went…Shinji wasn't so bad. Ryoma could have done a lot worse. He snorted softly; it could be said that he could have done a lot better to. Then again, so could Shinji. Supposedly.

There was the sound of a scratch on the hard floor, making Ryoma freeze up. It happened again, like a rat that had let its claws grow too long. He watched the area just beyond the bed but nothing appeared, just Shinji rolling to his other side.

He moved onto his back, looking down at the end of the bed. Something was going to come up, wasn't it? Something was going to crawl out at him. Nothing came from down there. He tried to tell himself to relax, to stop his racing heart. He was making things up now, great. He should just go back to sleep but the heat was still with him.

Icy cold fingers touched his forehead, nails faintly scratching his head. Slowly, very slowly, he tilted his head back, wanting to believe he'd be looking at the wall. Instead, there was a black figure looming over him.

His breath hitched in his chest and he thought briefly about crying out. The figure leaned down slightly, not becoming anymore clear. It just seemed to be an inky blackness against natural darkness. Those icy hands returned, touching his face lightly and moving to rest against his chest.

Ryoma tried to lift his hands to push the others away, to get up, but something was stopping him. It was like he had been paralyzed without his knowledge. The black thing in the vague outline of a person was face to face with him now. Even at this close distance, no features were available.

Breath was blowing across his face from a mouth he couldn't see. The hands trailed up again, cupping his chin. "Would you like to be mine?" the words were whispered and amused, bordering soft laughter.

Ryoma sat up with gasp, blinking quickly. Confusion settled when he realized nothing was there. He turned, looking to the wall. There was no person but…he turned around so he was on his knees, making sure not to jar the still sleeping Shinji.

He pressed his hand lightly against the wall, feeling the smooth texture of the wall. He leaned in closer. With the natural light coming from outside, he could just make out that there was something black there and it looked vaguely wet. He ran a hand over it again. There was a strange tingle in his fingertips but nothing else.

With a small shake of his head, he gently crawled over Shinji. He needed a glass of water; he was horribly thirsty.

* * *

Yanagisawa was trying to distract himself with little success. All that his mind was capable of giving him was 'my friend is dead'. His friend was dead and it looked like murder, though the police tried to assure him it wasn't. Like the idea of Akazawa committing suicide was that much better?

"He had too much to live for, dane," he muttered. But wasn't that what everyone said? Akazawa did, though, and he had no reason to give it up. The only thing he could think of was Uchimura's death; a guilty conscience and all. That was too weird, Akazawa had been the one to soothe back Yanagisawa and Shinji's fear.

Akazawa had completely believed they hadn't done anything so why would he kill himself over it? Yanagisawa groaned, clutching his aching head and putting it down on his desk. He wanted to go home; it would be so much easier to stop thinking there.

"Yanagisawa," it was a soft whisper but in the dead silence of his room, it nearly echoed.

He sat up quickly. "Akazawa?" It had sounded like him….or at least he had allowed his mind to make it sound like him.

"Help me," it was raspy, like he had been screaming for too long.

Yanagisawa looked around the room, finally noticing the door was open a little. "Akazawa?" he repeated. He wondered if the door had been open all this time and hesitantly got up to close it. Before he did, though, he peered out into the hallway. "Akazawa, is that you, dane?" He felt ridiculous for asking such a thing, but there was a chance…a chance that he was around. There was a strangled groan down the hall where the lights appeared to have burned out. "This isn't funny, dane!"

Maybe it was just someone playing a prank or who was sick. "Help me," the voice pleaded once more. Yanagisawa shifted, looking back into his room as it held all the answers. Ridiculous, he thought again. "Help…" He was going to find out just who the hell was messing with him. Then he was going to make them pay.

Shutting the door quietly, he started down the hallway. Whoever it was had fallen silent, but he knew they were here somewhere, just waiting. He glanced around and had to wonder why it was so dark. Sure, there was the off chance that the lights in this area had all burned out at the same time…but there wasn't even light coming from under doorways from late night studiers or people who had merely forgotten they had left them on.

Something heavy fell up ahead, jolting his attention back to the task at hand. There was movement not that far away and the sound of someone fleeing upstairs. "Oi!" Confidence pushed away any linger uncertainties, allowing him to rush after the person. "Hey, stop!" he snapped when he saw the dark movement at the top of the stairs. A door opened and shut, leaving everything still again.

Yanagisawa's hand clenched. Okay, now he was really starting to get angry. He hadn't been in the best mood before and he wanted to take his aggression out on something. He ran over to the room, entering it with a scowl.

Harsh, fluorescent lighting blinded him briefly. "Damn," he hissed, rubbing his eyes. Large spots danced around before him, obscuring his vision so badly he almost missing the person hurry in further. "I saw you, dane!" He rubbed his eyes again, trying to clear his vision.

When he finally got his sight back, he realized they had made it into the fourth floor bathroom. He grinned to himself slightly; there wouldn't be any escaping him here. There were only so many places to hide. He went to the first stall and shoved the door open. Nothing was there. He moved to the next one but hesitated before opening it.

He could feel eyes watching him, staring a hole into his neck. He attempted to lick his lips but his mouth had gone dry. Maybe he should just….let the person go today. It was just a prank really, no need to get angry. He hit the stall door lightly with his fist, backing up. He froze when he heard a guttural moan again. "Just…just water in the pipes," he said out loud.

He turned slowly, faced with the rows of sinks and the three stalls that were for showering. The last two had their curtains open but the last…the last was shut. A paranoid part of him, a part that had jabbered helplessly since hearing 'Akazawa's voice, knew whatever he had chased to here was in that stall. He wanted to ignore that part; there was nothing to be afraid of and he should march right over there and prove it to himself.

But first…he crouched down, peering under the plastic blockade. There were no feet, no shadows. Confidence returning, he stood and went towards it. He pushed it open, fully ready to laugh at himself for being stupid.

The laugh caught in his throat. He felt his legs weaken and the paranoid part was the only thing in him that had voice enough to scream. The creature before him leaned away from the wall, its lips pulling back into a grin. "Yanagisawa," it greeted in Akazawa's voice.

"Y-you're supposed to be dead, dane!" it was the first thing that came to his mind. "You're dead!" It almost felt like a horror movie. Maybe he had fallen asleep in his desk and the guilt had finally gotten to him.

Unlike a horror movie, the thing with Akazawa's voice and Uchimura's body didn't give a bad quip about how it was Yanagisawa who was the dead one, it just lurched forward. It grabbed onto him, pulling him close. Yanagisawa felt himself become light headed as it leaned to brush its lips by his ear. "I hate you," it whispered.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I'm sorry, dane!" He should be fighting, should be doing something other than shaking and weakly pleading his case.

Uchimura stared down at him, no forgiveness in those dark eyes, and threw him against the sink. Yanagisawa felt something in his stomach give when it hit hard porcelain and his head bounced off the mirror, the shatter echoing in his ears. The woozy, light headedness returned with a vengeance. He grabbed at the edges of the sink, trying to keep himself up right. It hurt to breath, his head was throbbing, and Uchimura who was very much dead was still there.

"I'm sorry," he repeated weakly, "I'm so sorry…" Blood was seeping down his face, dripping into the basin below. He felt a hand at his neck, forcing him down. When his face hit cool liquid, he was left idly wondering when the sink had been filled with water.

Seconds later, his brain registered the fact that it couldn't breathe. He tried to inhale but that just caused more water to invade his lungs. He flailed around, grabbing onto the stiff flesh that held his neck in place. Violently he tried to jerk the hand away but it wasn't moving.

There was the sound of garbled voices above him, muffled and at the same time too loud. He could hear his heartbeat throbbing frantically but slowing bit by bit. His fingers dug tightly into Uchimura's wrist, dragging down as he felt his body go limp. Strangely, the last thing he was sure he felt was some kind of relief.

* * *

Ryoma stopped outside of the bathroom, feeling his entire body give one giant shake. It was the remnants of the dream, he told himself. Nightmares or even merely bizarre dreams were enough to leave anyone out of sorts. He opened the door just in time to watch Yanagisawa's body drop to the floor like a dead fish. His brain came to a stuttering halt at the sight, unable to process this.

He was dreaming again. That would be the only explanation considering someone who had been dead for about two days was standing over the body. Ryoma continued to stare even when Uchimura turned a glare on him.

The door clicked shut and he realized he was now trapped in here. Uchimura seemed to realize this too because there was a definite twitch to his lips. The dead man turned all the way around in one jerky moving, lifting a blood and water slick hand.

Ryoma turned also, hands going to the door handle and trying to open it once more. It wasn't budging. There was something very much like panic coursing through his veins; it seemed to be cutting off his breathing and making his reflexes fail.

He could feel Uchimura moving closer, his shoes making a soft squishing sound from the water that Yanagisawa had splashed up. He scrambled more to open the door, going so far as to claw at the area around the knob. He didn't even realize he let out a low horrified whine.

Uchimura was right behind him now, he knew it. It was confirmed when cold and slimy fingertips touched his neck. "Leave me alone!" he turned around violently, swinging his arm out. It connected with nothing. Ryoma opened eyes he hadn't realize were closed. Uchimura wasn't there; it was just him and Yanagisawa.

Diluted blood dripped down the back of his shirt, making him shudder. "Yanagisawa-sempai?" he asked shakily. Please respond, he wanted to beg out loud. "Yanagisawa-sempai?" Eyes stared up at the ceiling, unblinking even as blood slid into them.

A chilling numbness filled Ryoma, blocking out the fact that he had just seen a walking corpse and there was a dead body not three feet from him. It was like he was on the outside looking in.

His hand blindly went to the handle, opening the door that no longer wished him to be stuck in this place. He could feel his limbs trembling while he made his way back to his room but he couldn't fully fathom why. Was it because for some reason the entire building was below freezing all of a sudden?

His room wasn't any warmer unfortunately. He turned on the light, uncaring of the startled snort the other occupant gave. He reached into the bottom drawer, sitting down on the edge of the bed with the phone in his hand. "Ryoma?" Shinji demanded groggily. "Do you have any idea what time it is? I don't mind if you do this kind of thing usually but you have me here tonight and one would think you'd keep that in mind. What's wrong with your neck? Did you hurt it? That seems like a hard place to injure on accident. Did someone hurt you?"

"Yanagisawa-sempai is dead!" he snapped, staring at the picture of said sempai on the phone. It almost looked like he was crying blood. 'I'm the boy who drowned in the sink' it offered.

Shinji was quiet, mouth working but no sound came out until, "W-what?"

"He's dead…in the bathroom." Ryoma felt the bed shift as Shinji got up and left the room, probably to check. Ryoma slowly closed the phone, setting it to the side. Three people were dead…he wasn't really sure how to react. He wasn't overly sad they were gone, he hadn't known them well enough for that. Did that make him a bad person?

His body felt like it was vibrating again. He didn't know how to make it stop. This was too much. That was all there was to it. Should he call the police? Would they think he did it? Would they think he was crazy? Should he just let Shinji take care of it?

There was the sound of hurried, unsteady footsteps and he slowly looked up. Shinji was using the wall for support, pale and a little ill looking. Their eye met briefly before Shinji practically ran off.

Did Shinji think he had done it? He hadn't! The phone beside him started ringing its unearthly melody, lighting up pleasantly. He didn't hesitate picking it up this time. He knew who it was going to be this time. Sure enough, Shinji's picture lay just beyond the message.

His fingers tightened on it. No, not this time. He wasn't going to let Shinji die. He got up, hurrying after Shinji. "Shinji!" he called when he got outside.

"They're both dead," Ryoma heard not too far off, "They're dead."

Ryoma ran to the stairs that led down to the school, pulling up short when he thought something he saw something dark just to Shinji's right. "Shinji…what did you do to Uchimura-sempai?" he demanded.

Shinji shook his head, looking troubled. He finally turned to Ryoma. "We didn't mean anything by it," his voice was soft, softer than it had ever been, "It was just…boys being boys. Isn't that the phrase they always use? We didn't think he'd kill himself."

"Liar!" it wasn't Ryoma who said it. Out of the darkness came Uchimura, hands still damp. Shinji moved back a step, almost falling over the edge of the stairs. Ryoma ran over, wrapping his arms around his waist, keeping him in place. "You made my life miserable! You told me I should save everyone some trouble and just die all ready!"

Ryoma could feel Shinji shaking and tightened his arms. "I didn't do anything," he was still trying to move away, "It was Yanagisawa and Akazawa."

Uchimura came forward, looking up. "Exactly," he hissed, "you did nothing. You didn't say anything, you just watched." There was honest confusion in his face. "What did I ever do to you?" The confusion filtered away and was replaced once more with rage. With inhuman speed, he was on Shinji, crushing Ryoma at the same time.

Ryoma suddenly realized that Shinji wasn't doing anything when Uchimura wrapped his hands around the other boy's throat. He seemed willing to let the creature push him closer and closer over the edge. Well Ryoma wasn't! He drove an elbow into Uchimura's stomach. For a ghost, he certainly was solid and he didn't seem to like being elbowed one bit.

When he saw the fingers loosen, he did again to drive him back further. Shinji stumbled forward, watching Ryoma with an emotion he couldn't quite identify at the moment. Ryoma turned back to Uchimura and gave one final shove, only to realize that he had been close to the edge too.

There was a loud crunch that didn't belong with a ghost when he hit bottom. Ryoma cautiously peered over the edge. "M-Mori-sempai?"

* * *

The police didn't blame him for what he had done, not after they had heard (an edited version) of what had happened. Nakagawa had classified it as a simple case of self defense. The case that had been brought against Mori hadn't been as simple. They had found the shoes that had Akazawa's blood on them in his room and his hands had been covered in Yanagisawa's. It was almost like some kind of psychological thriller; it appeared that Mori had been a little TOO close to Uchimura, the death being too much for him. For him, it had probably seemed natural to simply dress in his friends clothing and essentially BE him.

No one blamed him, Nakagawa had claimed. Obviously he forgot what it was like to be in high school. Ryoma had abandoned the idea of going to class after he realized the hush had fall in the hall when he had stepped out.

It made him feel…uncomfortable. The looks they gave him, like he was part cruel and part crazy. He didn't like the whispers they were uttering, only some of which he could make out. He opened his door, carefully looking out. No one was there now; he had safe passage to get to Shinji's room.

He didn't bother knocking when he arrived, he didn't see the point when they were probably the only two people still in the dorms. Shinji was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't even acknowledge Ryoma. "Shinji…"

"You killed someone, Ryoma," he didn't look at him, "Even if it was to protect me, I didn't think you had it in you. It's a very dangerous urge to have. You didn't even look at that sorry when you did it, either. Didn't you notice it was Mori?"

"What? What are you talking about?" That had been Uchimura up until the last minute. He knew it had been. Shinji had even thought it had been!

"It was Mori, I saw it and you did too. I didn't think you disliked Mori so much that you would-"

"You're defending him?!" He wasn't sure if he wanted to feel disgusted or insulted at the very idea. "He killed Yanagisawa-sempai and Akazawa-sempai!"

Shinji sat up, looking Ryoma directly. "I'm not so sure of that," he replied honestly.

Ryoma could feel his gut tighten. It…it looked like Shinji was serious. He was implying that it was Ryoma…and he looked like he honestly believed it, despite all the evidence. "How can you believe that?"

"I don't think we should see each other anymore. It just wouldn't be right. I wouldn't feel comfortable around you anymore. But can you blame me? It would be terrible if you did…"

Ryoma glared at him, turning sharply and leaving the room. That explained why everyone was talking about him; Shinji had gotten to them before anyone had gotten any other information.

He wandered down the hall before placing his hands against a neighboring wall. He couldn't breath again. It was too hot and he felt vaguely sick. He needed some fresh air. He fled the building, going to the stairs.

He sat down heavily, placing his head between his knees as he tried to get everything under control. Nothing was going to be the same…what was wrong with him? He knew that Uchimura had killed his two sempai, had wanted to kill Shinji…why didn't Shinji believe him?

He bit his lip hard, hard enough to feel blood, and reached behind him for some kind of support. His hands clutched a step, making him turn around slowly. The twenty ninth step? Confusion captured his brain. He hadn't counted the steps so why was it here?

There was a soft vibration coming from the step, like a soft undercurrent of electricity. He continued to stare at it breathing harshly. Slowly, he got up, stepping onto it. "Fox…" his voice was soft, "Fox…please grant me my wish." His voice dropped further and the words he spoke next were lost as the wind rose up at an almost frightful pace.

He felt dizzy all of a sudden; like every last ounce of strength had been sapped away. He closed his eyes, trying to will it away, but that only made it worse. He could feel himself teetering and he wondered if divine retribution would send him to the same fate as Mori.

Cool hands clasped his, keeping him upright. He reopened his eyes to find darkness at the corner of his vision. As everything dimmed, he thought he caught a glimpse of shocking blue eyes and light brown hair. Had some fellow student come to save him? He didn't really care right now…he just wanted to stop feeling dizzy and sick and confused. As he allowed darkness to over come him, he thought he heard his name.

The End

Yes, that is the official end of Into the Woods. Next up in the series, Dark Crevices. We'll see more Ryoma, more Tezuka, more Fuji, and more Fuji molesting Ryoma. What, exactly, Tezuka was doing there? Where did Ryoma's father go? How will Fuji make his appearance? It'll be answered in Dark Crevices!

I tried to get Fuji in there a lot more but it wasn't working out right; it seemed too out of place in most other scenes so I stuck with that the brief moment earlier and the brief moment at the end. Same would be said with Tezuka. But you can rest assured that there will be FujiRyoma (possibly TezukaFujiRyoma if Tezuka plays his cards right) as the series progresses. There were also some details that never made it in since I felt they disrupted the flow of the story, even if they had some minor details to them. If you're confused, feel free to PM and I'll respond!

Next up: Finishing off The Heirloom. And if you aren't a frequenter of my site, you might want to be in the future. Ryoma's Baby is going to be a site only story, so keep your attention there for that.


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